Living at risk of landslide

With the monsoon here, fear of landslides grip those living in the hill regions, especially on the hillsides.

Several thousand people of low-income group live on the slopes and foot of hills in Chittagong city, but the authorities concerned are yet to take any effective step, except for some talks, to evacuate them to safer places.

On June 2, the Hill Management Committee (HMC) directed organisations and individuals who owned the hills or land around them to submit the lists of families exposed to the danger of landslides by June 8.

In the meeting, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Md Abdullah, who heads the committee, also directed the authorities concerned to disconnect all utility lines at the vulnerable areas after receiving the lists.

But none complied.

Four days had passed since the deadline expired, but not even a single list was submitted till yesterday, according to sources.

Environmental activist Sharif Chouhan blamed this on political clout of people controlling the hillside residences, and lack of sincerity of the administration and of coordination among different government and private organisations.

Between 2007 and 2013, landslides during the monsoon killed at least 185 people in Chittagong.

Of them, 127 died in a single incident on June 11 in 2007. Following this, the HMC was formed. The committee made 36 proposals that included relocating the hill-dwellers vulnerable to landslides, constructing retaining walls, taking up afforestation programmes and erecting barbed-wire fences around the hills.

Though no latest figure on the number of people at risk of mudslides was available, the district administration office last year identified a total of 30 hills in the port city as vulnerable to landslides with around 666 families residing on the slopes of 11 of them. As for the rest of the hills, the number of people living on the slopes and foot of the hills remained unaccounted for.

"The actual number of the families living on the hill slopes now is at least three times higher than the year-old list mentions," claimed Delwar Mojumder, former president of the Chittagong chapter of the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh.

"They [the administration] have made a list of poor families living in the danger zones but they are not doing the same for those who are illegally renting out the hilly lands to the poor. The middle men, who under the aegis of politicians are occupying and renting out the land should be prosecuted," said Delwar.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Mohammad Ellius Hossain of Chittagong, also member secretary of the HMC, said they would start an eviction drive from next week. He hoped to have the lists of the families living on the hills in the meantime.

The district administration also has plans to identify those who encourage the poor people to live on the hills despite eviction drives every year, he said.

"The utility services would be disconnected during the eviction drives this time to prevent the relocated people from returning to these risky areas," Ellius told The Daily Star.